WSR 03-13-109

DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY


[ Filed June 17, 2003, 3:28 p.m. ]


Fiscal Year 2004 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Priority List


     Public Comments Invited on Water Cleanup List: The Washington Department of Ecology (ecology) wants your comments on a list of priority water bodies we have tentatively chosen for water cleanup planning this year. Ecology organizes water cleanup efforts through geographic areas called water quality management areas (WQMA) and chooses water resource inventory areas (WRIAs) or watersheds in each of our four regions yearly. To help us select which waters to cleanup, we met with groups in communities within these WQMAs in these regions last fall.

     The criteria for making these selections included the severity of the pollution, potential harm to human and aquatic health, impaired beneficial uses, such as agriculture, drinking water and fish habitat, and the potential for local support for water cleanup activities. In addition, the presence of threatened and endangered fish species significantly influenced our choices.

     Ecology reviews and responds to your comments in August 2003, and then the cleanup list will be finalized.

     Please address your comments on the above priority list by July 25, 2003, to Ron McBride, Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, rmcb461@ecy.wa.gov, phone (360) 407-6469, or fax (360) 407-6426.

     The entire list of water bodies we chose from can be viewed on our website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/.

     The following pages contain the proposed list of water bodies we plan to begin work on in 2003. The list shows each water body and the parameters of concern. The last page lists definitions of pollution problems.

     *The projects shown below are the best estimate of our capacity at this time. Ecology's budget has yet to be set for the next biennium. Actual fiscal and staffing levels may result in fewer projects. In addition, as we are working in a geographic region (WRIA), projects may be expanded into additional waterbodies if we find they need work.

(DRAFT) New FY2004 Funded TMDL Projects

Regional Office WRIA Primary Location Water body(s) Name Pollution Problems
CRO 37 - 38 Yakima County Yakima urban area creeks in the Moxee and Wide Hollow Creek watershed Fecal Coliform (bacteria)
CRO 38 Yakima County Naches River and Tributaries Temperature
ERO 34 Whitman County NF Palouse River Fecal Coliform
ERO 45 Spokane County Little Spokane River

Dissolved Oxygen, pH; Fecal Coliform, Temperature
ERO 55 Spokane County Hangman (Latah) Creek Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Fecal Coliform, Suspended Sediment, Temperature
ERO 58 - 62 Stevens County Colville National Forest water bodies Temperature, Fecal Coliform
ERO 62 Pend Oreille Pend Oreille River Total Dissolved Gas, Temperature
NWRO 1 Whatcom County Whatcom Creek Temperature
NWRO 5 Snohomish County Old Stillaguamish Channel in Stillaguamish River watershed Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Fecal Coliform
NWRO 8 King County Sammamish Washington Assessment and Modeling Project (SWAMP). Partnership with KCDNR (see*** below) Multiple
NWRO 8 King County Issaquah, Tibbetts Creeks, south end of Lake Sammamish Fecal Coliform
NWRO 9 King County Green and Duwamish Rivers; Big Soos, Newaukam, Springbrook, and Mill Creeks Fecal Coliform, Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, and others (see* below)
NWRO 9 King County Longfellow and Des Moines Creeks Fecal Coliform
SWRO 14 Mason County Oakland Bay, Little Skookum/Totten Fecal Coliform

(see** below)


WRIAs - Water Resource Inventory Areas or watersheds.

*Partnership with King County DNR's Water Quality Assessment (WQA) project.

** Scope could be expanded to cover additional parameters such as dissolved oxygen if data assessment warrants.


*** Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, Lake Union; Bear, Bear-Evans, Little Bear, Eden, North, Swamp, McAleer, Lyons, Thornton, Kelsey, Juanita, Fairweather Bay, Forbes, Coal, May, Yarrow Bay, Issaquah, Tibbetts, Lewis, Pine Lake Creeks; Cedar River, Sammamish River

     Definitions of Pollution Problems: Although not necessarily agents of disease, fecal coliform bacteria indicate the presence of disease-carrying organisms that live in the same environment as the fecal coliform bacteria.

     A certain minimum amount of dissolved oxygen must be present in water for aquatic life to survive.

     Temperature is important because it governs the kinds of aquatic life that can live in a stream.

     pH is a term used to indicate the alkalinity or acidity of a substance as ranked on a scale from 1.0 to 14.0. Neutral pH is 7.0. Acidity increases as the pH gets lower.

     High levels of Total Dissolved Gas (TDG), air bubbles entrained in water, can harm fish.

     Sediment can smother fish eggs, change the aquatic organisms and habitat, and interfere with fish migration, feeding, and spawning.

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